I live far away and buy detectors that are available at our place of sale. We don't have DFX, we have V3 spectra but it's too expensive for me.
Detectors with true all metal mode
- Thread starter Minero
- Start date
By the way, there is also Fisher Gold Bug and Teknetics G2, it seems to be the same detector (as well as its Chinese counterpart TX850) It is mentioned in the first message, does this detector really have a true "all metal" mode that can react to anomalies in the ground?
Jim in Idaho
Junior Member
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2024
- Messages
- 74
There's a brand new (unused) DFX on marketplace right now. $250 and it comes with 3 coils, and two pinpointers...a really great deal.
Jim
Carl-NC
Senior Member
Having an AM mode doesn't mean it will react to ground anomalies. With most VLF detectors the AM mode is also ground balanced, but the motion filters are bypassed. Are you looking for a detector that can track ground anomalies? If so, you can probably use a VLF and offset the GB enough to hear the ground. Or, consider an older TR detector.
old-raven
Full Member
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2025
- Messages
- 227
I know this wasn't addressed to me but I can say that AM, in my machine at any rate, that it DOES react to "ground anomalies". Old fire pits/fire cracked rock, spots where human activity has altered the stratigraphy, areas where tons of iron has leached into the ground from nearby dumps, subsurface brick foundations and etc. It's actually possible with my kit to use the ground balance to plot out grid heat maps of the areas of interest to get a sense for what human activity may have occurred there, tracing back filled ditches and such, it's a little like using a magnetometer in an archaeological setting. Actually I've used a magnetometer to ground truth certain features that the metal detector has reported and they tend to be in agreement, the depth of the B horizon is a notable case as well as igneous terrain. I cannot speak for other models but I know that between non motion/AM and ground balance it actually is possible to detect "anomalies" and even go so far as to map them if one is feeling ambitious. You just have to think outside of the box to open up abilities you didn't realize your machine might have. These are EM geophysical survey tools after all.
Check this out if you have time or interest:
Last edited:
Carl-NC
Senior Member
That is true if the anomalies have a different loss angle than the surrounding soil. If you are looking for a void or a high concentration of material with about the same loss angle as the matrix then you need to offset the GB so you can hear the ground. The best solution is a detector that can plot the loss angle and strength of the ground signal. The White's V3 had a mode for this, and the AlgoForce appears to do this to some extent.
Yes, everything you say here is correct, you need a detector that can detect anomalies(It would be very good if it reacted to voids too) in the "all metal" mode, that is, it must have a corresponding threshold tone and, for example, the need to shift the manual ground balance for a better effect. The only question is which of the detectors available for sale allows this, I can not buy expensive detectors, for example V3 spectra.
And we don't have DFX for sale. So we are interested in not very expensive detectors that we have in stock from those that are currently on sale.
I looked, unfortunately we don’t have any Bounty Hunter metal detectors in stock.
Carl-NC
Senior Member
Might be easier to know your budget and what detectors you have available.
The budget is average, up to 500 dollars, maximum 700 (if something is very good, clearly better than everything else) all detectors of modern lines are on sale, old models already need to be looked for and many are not sold here. At least the above-mentioned Bounty Hunter and DFX are not sold.
Has anyone worked with quest detectors? For example, there is a quest X10 for sale, the description indicates the all metals mode, the instructions say that in the all metals mode you can adjust the threshold tone and manual ground balance. Has anyone worked with quest detectors? In addition to the X10, there are other detectors from this company, but I am considering the most budget ones
graybeard
Elite Member
The Q 30 will hit metal just like other detectors, but will it hit all the metal in the ground, the answer is no.
All metal on a detector is a false claim told by most of the companies that make detectors.
Like I said before the DFX is the only VLF detector that I will use to find most of the metal that is in the ground.
All metal on a detector is a false claim told by most of the companies that make detectors.
Like I said before the DFX is the only VLF detector that I will use to find most of the metal that is in the ground.
The Q30 model does not have a full metal program, but such a program is described for the x10, so I asked about it. As I said, you can't buy a DFX, but not only this model should have a real "all metal" mode, they said above that Bounty Hunter detectors are suitable, but they are also not available for sale. On the first page in the first message, several detectors are mentioned of them, there is an Xterra 705 on sale and I am interested in it, if anyone used the prospecing gold mode in it, I would like to know if this is the true all metall mode or not
Carl-NC
Senior Member
Where are you located?
I live far away, Moldova, it is Eastern Europe. Therefore I focus on what we have for sale.
MontanaTreasureHunter
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2026
- Messages
- 1
Monte Thank you for sharing all your knowledge on this topic but you forgot a few garretts like the GTI 2500 and MasterhunterCX series if you could elaborate that would be great i also wanted to add some reads by Charles Garrett from RAM publishing as he was quite helpful to us in this respect.
WeirdGuyInPark
Junior Member
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2022
- Messages
- 84
Nokta Impact..the GEN (General Search) mode is a true all-metal mode with motion that operates with a constant threshold hum
graybeard
Elite Member
The Impact don't compete with the DFX for finding the metal that is in the ground!!!
Fredneck
Elite Member
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2020
- Messages
- 562
A better version of the DFX is the XLT IMO, pretty much the same detector just a difference in frequencies and the DFX's multi freq ability which I didn't care for its loss in depth, so I went back to the XLT. Average used price runs $300-$400, maybe you can get your hands on one in your area, excellent detector with all that your looking for, happy hunting.
graybeard
Elite Member
In my opinion the DFX is better then the XLT it has better settings too help you get deeper targets. I have set up the XLT for a person and it helped them hit targets better then the standard settings do, and they liked how it did.
Most people switched from the XLT over to the DFX because it did so much better for them.
To each their own, we all decide on what we want to use.
Most people switched from the XLT over to the DFX because it did so much better for them.
To each their own, we all decide on what we want to use.
